Wednesday, February 08, 2006

February TBR Challenge - A New-To-Me Author

Reviewed by my blogging partner in November. I had just finished Cindy Gerard’s To The Limit and was ripe for another contemporary that featured a hero of military (or police) background and the requisite heroine-in-danger. I added it to my TBR list, but only just got my hands on it last month.

Do you like the cover?

Cover is a bit busy, but I’m neither drawn nor swayed by book covers.

Did you enjoy the book?

Yes and no.

Yes, because it was both tightly written and richly descriptive—high compliments given the degree of action, the required amount of technical background and the development of both primary and secondary love stories. Mann packs a good deal of action and a wealth of military and technical information in here. Neither detracts from the tightly woven plot—which, BTW, is ultra modern, totally believable and the stuff of a sexy, military action film.

Yes, because Mann’s characterization is strong. These characters wandered in and out of my thoughts over the few days it took me to finish their book. For me, that is the clearest indication that the writer has succeeded in bringing her characters to life.

Yes, because I felt the tug, sensed the anticipation between Mann’s secondary H and H. The sexual tension was palpable, the characters the perfect shade of dark—standing equally distanced in the shadow of ‘right and wrong’.

Yes, because Mann fully developed and completed the secondary love story. The reader is not left wanting.

No, because I didn’t care for the primary H and H. Through no fault of the author however. At least I don’t think so. I’m fairly certain that my dislike stems from the heroine’s offer to be sex buddies with her best friend, the hero. Didn’t care for it. And that is exactly where the book starts. Because I was instantly turned off by that tact, I am assigning my dislike to these characters’ actions and not to any failure on Mann’s part to develop them with depth.

No, because I was in the mood for an alpha hero. Again, through no fault of the author, my mood called for a primary hero skilled at reading his woman. (Archaic and caveman, yeah, I know.) Joe always seems at a loss, fumbling when he should be finessing. While he suffered none of that awkwardness during sex, I found his approach to every other aspect of their relationship almost adolescent (totally lacking experience). Admittedly, in a different mood, I would have viewed this dynamic more favorably.

Would you read something by this author again?

Most definitely. The plotline and action were flawless, IMO. And the romance between the secondary H and H was compelling enough to elicit a sensory reaction.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?

Passing it on, but only because I keep so few books. My keeper shelf is exactly that—a shelf (as in one). I’m the one with the ever-clear countertops, remember? The freak that can’t tolerate too much stuff or too much noise in her personal space.

Anything else?

In addition to that brief, and inappropriate, insight into my personal life, I’ll go on ahead and admit to an obsession with Suzanne Brockmann’s SEAL books. While Catherine Mann, an author often recommended by Brockmann fans, delivers complex, exciting military action, she does not elicit the same level of attraction to the uniformed men that populate her story. I’ll read more Mann titles, but doubt I’ll experience the same draw that pulls me to a Brockmann SEAL.